Polar Opposites
by CorvusCorvidae
Summary: Laura accidentally places a spoof roommate ad, instead of the real one, and ends up with the most unlikely roommate. AU. Carmilla/Laura.
1. Chapter 1

*0*0*

Polar Opposites

*0*0*

_Wanted: A fun, friendly, clean, roommate to share 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom apartment, and who likes living with a bubbly and sociable roommate. Preferably employed, with normal working hours. No pets. Non-smoker. 50/50 split on bills – rent $800 p/m. First and last month's rent deposit required upfront. _

"You can't put that up-" LaFontaine said, shaking her head, and Laura groaned, dropping her head onto the desk.

The two of them were camped around Laura's computer with snacks and glasses around them, and LaFontaine's books abandoned on Laura's coffee table behind them. They had been hanging out, with LaFontaine using Laura's place to study for the night, while Laura busied herself. But somewhere along the way, they got pulled into this mess of writing an online ad for a roommate Laura desperately needed.

Slowly, but surely, they were both losing the will to live.

"Why not? What's wrong with it?" This had to be the tenth one of these Laura had written, and each one felt worse than the last.

"For starters, fun? You're basically asking for a party chick. Remember what it was like living with Betty in college? You hated that." Not true, Laura mused.

"I didn't hate it. I just thought that we could have spent more hours studying than partying." Her Friday night study schedule had gone out the window for mixers and parties. It had been fun, but her grades had suffered a little. And then a lot.

"Exactly," LaFontaine nodded, looking back at the advert for Laura to change.

"Okay, so I'll take out fun," she agreed, reading the rest of it.

"And friendly?" LaFontaine asked, this time making Laura look at them like she had three heads.

"What's wrong with friendly? I want them to be nice! I don't want to live with a complete monster." That would be the worst.

"Yeah, but do you want them to be _friendly_?" LaFontaine's eyes said it all, the crazy within, but Laura sat there completely lost.

"Why are you saying it that way?" she frowned, to which LaFontaine's face dropped.

"Friendly is 'oh hey, how are you?' which is normal, but the kind of folks that are going to be looking for a roommate at this price range are going to be the more 'oh, hey, don't mind me standing over your bed watching you sleep, it's what friends do' _friendly_ type of people."

"You're...right. Okay, so I should take that out, too." Gosh, this ad was getting smaller and smaller by the minute. "What about clean? That can stay, right? I don't want a slob living here." Laura asked, a second later, wondering if LaFontaine was going to comment on that, too.

"Oh yeah, clean should be a requirement, but maybe not specify it? You didn't exactly do well with Perry."

"I loved staying with Perry," Laura argued back, although occasionally she did have flashbacks to that month and now she can't even look at a dustpan in the same light again.

"Laura, she hovered the crumbs off your plate while you were eating." As if Laura needed that reminder.

"Okay, yes, that was excessive, but that's Perry. I'm not going to get a roommate like Perry."

"You wouldn't be so lucky," LaFontaine grinned, and ugh, Laura's friends were too adorable for their own good. Rolling her eyes at that, Laura pursed her lips and went back to what she had previously written.

"Alright, so the first part is useless, but what about the second bit?"

"You really want to tell them you're bubbly and sociable? That might attract the wrong type of people."

"How?"

"Bubbly can mean intense, like, hyper, and yeah, you can be like that at times, but then you might end up living with someone just like you, how awful would that be?" Thinking over that scenario, Laura's face turned into a grimace, and she shook her head.

"Okay, so I need to change that, too. Why is this so hard?" she groaned once again.

"Because you had the best roommate ever," LaFontaine reminder her, and that was so not necessary.

"Shush, we agreed not to talk about Danny."

"You have to talk about her eventually."

"Not any time soon. Now, help me." Pushing the keyboard LaFontaine's way, Laura sat back and watched LaFontaine type.

_Wanted: an older, unsociable, messy roommate, who is willing to live with the energizer bunny on speed in a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom apartment. Preferably unemployed. Pets welcome. Smoking acceptable. 50/50 split on bills – rent $800 p/m. First and last month's rent deposit required upfront. _

"There," LaFontaine grinned, and Laura glanced back at the words on screen.

"Oh, that's great, that's exactly the opposite of what I want – and the energizer bunny on speed? Really?" Laura's face was definitely worth writing that, and LaFontaine laughed as they waved their hands in surrender. "You're meant to be helping me!" Laura cried out, feeling useless.

"I am, but you're going round in circles, and I have to go." There was a distinct whimper from Laura, which LaFontaine ignored before gathering their belongings. "Perry wants to reorganise the chore schedule before we go to bed, and last time I got stuck on dusting duty - safe to say, I spent a week on the couch because I didn't get all the dust off the fireplace. So, I'm going to save myself this time round and go help her. I'm sure you'll think of something."

LaFontaine's reassuring smile wasn't enough to convince Laura of anything. However, she needed to crack on.

Bidding LaFontaine goodbye at the door, Laura found her way back to her desk, flouncing down in the chair and once again thinking over her predicament.

Rent was due soon, and she did not have enough money to cover it. She needed a roommate, like yesterday. It was one of those necessary facts of life, and while she was willing to pretend it wasn't a big deal, now it was turning into one. Okay, it wasn't the worst situation in the world, because if she called her dad, he would help her out. But still.

He would send her money for rent, and for groceries, and for dry-cleaning, and for emergencies, and then she would be back into that bubble. She needed to be away from it. She loved her dad, she really did, but she wanted to do things for herself for a change. College had been a big step forward, but living on her own, that was meant to be the next big step.

What Laura hadn't expected was her highly attractive and wonderful Lit TA, Danny. She was unforeseen, and then they were dating, and wow, moving in together sounded like such a smart idea. Until it became clear that Laura had swapped one parent for another, and Danny wanted to look out for her almost as much as her father did. It was sweet, at first, but it wasn't healthy to their relationship.

So that went up in flames, and Danny moved out.

That was two months ago, and Laura had been using some of her savings to keep things together, but she couldn't afford to keep doing that. She needed a roommate. She needed to make the spare bedroom into a source of income. It was the only way she was going to be able to stay in her apartment, which she loved.

Yes, it had been her and Danny's, but for those two months Danny wasn't there, it was hers, and she loved it, and she did not want to move out. Laura had personalised it, made it her own, and to give all that up, to move across town to the more affordable places, it would be gutting. Her whole life was on this side of town.

So, to stop that form happening, hello strangers on the internet, she needed one of them to want to live with her. That couldn't be so hard, right?

Opting to just write something basic before this molehill turned into a mountain, Laura moved back to type on her keyboard. Except, somehow, and the fatigue must really be getting to her because her hand wasn't even on that side of the keyboard, she hit enter, and it was gone. LaFontaine's joke advert was away, into the Ethernet, and suddenly it was out there on the web.

"Why do bad things happen to good people?" Laura whined, pouting a little, before sighing. "I'm leaving it," she spoke aloud, looking at the screen helplessly. "It'll still be there in the morning, when I'm not feeling this exhausted, and I can fix it then. Plus, it's not like anyone is going to reply to that."

With her decision made, Laura closed everything down, shut off the lights, and headed into her bedroom to get some much needed sleep.

*0*0*

_Karnstein-C has replied to your ad! _

_Everything sounds satisfactory; and I can have first month and last month's rent paid within 24 hours. Interested?_

*0*0*

"You what? Laura, you can't just invite strangers to live with you," Perry said several days later, having heard the story from LaFontaine.

They were all sitting around Laura's living room, debating the current drama in Laura's life. Of course.

"I know, but I need to. We don't know anyone who needs a place to stay and I can't move from here," she reasoned. "Plus, I think I've found someone. Well, I mean, I have found someone."

"You did? How?" LaFontaine asked, frowning.

"I accidentally used your joke advert and this girl replied." LaFontaine's eyes went wide with horror, but Laura continued. "And at first I thought, she's crazy, but after I swapped the ad for the correct one, a good, easy, basic advert and no one replied, I realised I really didn't have much of an option. I need the money to stay here and she has it. She's the only one willing, and worst comes to worst, she'll be here two months, tops."

"Wow. You're really doing this," Perry said, still looking concerned, as she gripped LaFontaine's hand. "Well, we'll support you, of course, and we need to meet her, at once."

"That's actually why I asked you both here," Laura confessed. "I didn't want to invite a stranger round if they turned out to be some kind of serial killer. Safety in numbers and all that. So, can you please just stay until she gets here?"

"Of course!" Perry called, feeling much more at ease with this piece of information. God only knows she would not be able to handle one of her friends being kidnapped or worse.

"Thank you so much, she should be here soon-"Midsentence, and then the buzzer rang on the door.

Getting up, Laura hit the button to reply, and asked who it was.

"It's Carmilla Karnstein, potential new roommate?" Hearing the mysterious new roommate's voice for the first time had Laura swallowing a lump in her throat. It sounded dry, husky, like this Carmilla girl had been up all night drinking booze and smoking cigarettes.

Maybe this wasn't going to work out.

"Great, come on up!" she called, filling herself with fake confidence.

Hitting the button to open the door, Laura took a step back and looked to Perry and LaFontaine. No longer were they lounging around on her sofa holding hands, but now standing at the ready, in case there really was some kind of monster on the other side of the door.

It didn't take long before there was a knock at the door, which Laura had been preparing for. She wiped the wrinkles out of her shirt before advancing on the door, pulling it open quickly to see who she might just end up living with for the next two months.

Freezing, Laura was met with the sight of leather. There were leather pants, and a strip of skin, before a grey top, with a loose jacket on her shoulders, and wow, Laura was still staring. Where the hell had her brain gone?

"I'm here about the room?" Carmilla said, looking far too bored to notice Laura's blushing cheeks and frantic fake smile.

"Yes, of course, come on in!"

Doing just that, Carmilla walked past Laura, into the living room, completely ignoring LaFontaine and Perry as she did so, and began inspecting the apartment from where she stood.

Leaning back upon the door as it closed behind her, Laura took in the scene before her. LaFontaine was grinning ear to ear, Perry looked exceedingly concerned, and Carmilla looked like she'd walked off a catwalk for the stunning and pissed off.

There was no way any of this could end well.

*0*0*


	2. Chapter 2

*0*0*

Polar Opposites

*0*0*

Carmilla was, officially, Laura's new roommate.

Upon Carmilla's entrance twenty four hours prior, Laura was resigned to the fact that this girl, with her cold demeanour and quite frankly, scary presence, was her only hope at staying put. So, being the good host that she is, Laura introduced Perry and LaFontaine.

"Great. Now that I know the nosey neighbours, can I see the room?"

"We're not neighbours-" Perry began, only to be cut off.

"Don't care." Carmilla's smile was anything but friendly, and the situation was best diffused quickly.

"Sure, the room, right this way!" Laura called, plastering her own fake smile on her lips, and leading Carmilla down the hall from the living room, to the bedrooms at the back. Her own bedroom door was shut, and the spare room's door was open, revealing an empty room. It had been a bit of a nightmare getting all her belongings out of it, but it was finally clear.

"I know it's not much to look at, and there's not a bed, yet, but-"

"I have my own furniture," Carmilla's tone was short, clipped, as she stood in the middle of the floor, looking at all four walls like there was actually something to see there. There wasn't, Laura was certain, because she was looking too, and nada.

"Oh. Great, if you need help moving it in, I can-"

"Not necessary. My brother's going to do it." Despite being cut short, Laura saw this opportunity in the conversation for what it was; an opening, exactly what she needed to get things going in the right direction!

"You have a brother?" she sounded genuinely interested, and even friendly. But apparently that didn't matter.

"Yes." Carmilla didn't offer any further information, cutting short Laura's bonding session, by striding past her and opening the door at the end of the hallway; the bathroom.

Okay then.

Pursing her lips, it seemed like the smarter option would be to return to the living room and just wait on Carmilla to stop inspecting her place like there was mould secretly growing out of every corner. The super had taken care of that already. Damn students upstairs.

Perry and LaFontaine were awaiting her return, and neither looked too thrilled with her possible new roommate.

"You can't be serious, she's….Laura, I don't think this is a sensible option," Perry began, ready to go off in full mother-hen mode.

"She's mean," LaFontaine reasoned, and while that reason was perfectly justifiable on its own, it wasn't making a dent in Laura's decision making.

"She's the only option I have. I don't…I know I'm being ridiculous, but this is my home and I'm not giving that up. So what, she's a little abrasive? I can deal with that."

Perry just looked on concerned, and LaFontaine was shaking their head slightly, as if they knew that was not going to be the case.

"So, when can I move in?" Carmilla asked, coming back in the living room, still looking aggrieved by the entire encounter, but that didn't matter.

"As soon as you like," Laura answered instantly, nipping over to her desk, pulling out a contract. This had the other three all quirking their eyebrows. "This should cover all the basics, and just gives us both rights and explains how the money works. If you need time to read it over, or want to amend any of the clauses then we should sit down and go over that, to ensure that we are both happy…what…are – you -"

While Laura was speaking, Carmilla glanced at each sheet for approximately three seconds, before grabbing a pen off the coffee table and swirling her fancy signature at the bottom of the page.

"We done?" Carmilla asked, as if this was draining and a complete waste of her time.

"We're done," Laura replied, reaching for another envelope. "Here's your key." She handed it over, as well as a copy of the contract, just in case Carmilla actually did want to read it at a later date.

Nodding, with both objects in hand, Carmilla didn't even glance Laura's way as she headed for the door. She let herself out, just like that, leaving Perry, LaFontaine and Laura a little lost as to her sudden departure. Was she gone for good? Was she coming back? Were they meant to follow?

"Okay, so when the cops call and say you've gone missing, we should just point them in her direction, right?" LaFontaine asked, much to Perry's disappointment.

"LaFontaine, don't even joke about that." Yeah, it wasn't funny when it held an ounce of truth to it.

"I'll be fine. She's just a little eccentric. It's nothing I can't handle." Laura was sure if she said it enough times, it would eventually come true.

"Uh huh," LaFontaine replied, to the now silent room of doubt.

That was then, before Laura had slept on her decision, and before she had woken to a fully furnished spare bedroom – which, she probably needed to start calling Carmilla's room – and when had Carmilla moved her stuff in?

"Last night," came the reply, sounding so much like late night drinking, lack of sleep, cigarettes, and so fitting to Carmilla.

"Oh. I didn't…I didn't know you were here. I didn't hear anything-"

"We were extra careful not to wake sleeping beauty." That didn't feel like a compliment off Carmilla's lips, although if Danny had said that to Laura, she definitely would have thought it was.

"We?" Carmilla was the only one moving in, right?

"William," Carmilla called, now leaning in the doorway to her room, arms crossed, and that all too common look of disdain on her features.

The sound of footsteps pulled Laura's attention from Carmilla, where she really needed to stop examining her new roommate like she was a test subject, and towards the hallway, where a guy with an all too familiar look of disdain and creep was coming over. Laura could see the family resemblance.

"Hey, I'm Will. You must be Laura," he was grinning, but it had the hair on the back of Laura's neck on end. That was weird, to say the least.

"Yeah, I'm Laura. It's nice to meet you, Will." Being polite was always the best policy in these situations, Laura was convinced. "Thanks for helping move everything in, and for being so quiet, if I had known I would have helped-"

"Oh, it's no problem. Happy to help. If you ever need any-" Will began, but Carmilla's presence was now closer, slightly in front of Laura's, although she was still in the doorway to her room.

"You can go now, Willy boy. Those boxes aren't going to carry themselves." Will's smile didn't falter, if anything, it got wider.

"Sure thing, sugar puss." He gave a polite nod to Laura and then walked back into the living room.

So the were…peculiar together, but maybe they didn't have the best relationship. Maybe they were more of the competitive siblings type than the friendly siblings type. Maybe it wasn't any of Laura's business. Maybe if she kept reminding herself of that fact, she'd leave it alone. There was no way prying could do her any good with Carmilla, that was for sure.

"I should…" Pointing to the living room, Laura excused herself.

She hadn't anticipated Carmilla following her, however, and feeling her behind her was rather unnerving. Gosh, she was letting LaFontaine's comments get to her. Carmilla was fine. And once closer to the living room, with a clear view, Laura knew exactly why she was following her, and yes, her thoughts were completely irrational.

There were boxes in the living room that had still to be taken to Carmilla's room.

"So how accurate was the ad to…to you?" Laura asked, trying to make conversation. They were going to be living together, after all.

Her question had Carmilla smirking as she looked down at her boxes, which, that wasn't good, was it?

"I don't smoke," she replied, and Laura froze, letting the silence drag on as she thought back over the ad.

_Wanted: an older, unsociable, messy roommate… Preferably unemployed…..Pets welcome._

"Oh, well, that's a relief." Second-hand smoke was not something Laura wanted to be subjected to, so yes, that was a huge relief. However, that meant…"You have pets?"

She really hadn't signed up to having a dog or cat moulting on the furniture or some obscure reptile possibly getting loose and killing her. She had read the stories about snakes measuring themselves out next to humans to see if they can fit them in their stomachs, and she did not plan on being Carmilla's pet's next meal.

No thank you.

Laura's question was said with a slight nervous quiver, and Carmilla's lips smirked wider at it, which could not have been a good sign, as far as Laura was concerned. God, she probably had an anaconda tucked away, like Nagini, just ready to strike and pounce. Where was the sword of Gryffindor when one needed it?

"I have a fish," Carmilla finally said.

"A fish?" The words felt ridiculous leaving Laura's mouth, because what?

"Yeah. The tank will be in my room, so no big deal. You won't even know it's here."

"Oh." Carmilla didn't look like the fish type. Hence the snake assumption.

"Not what you were expecting, cupcake?" Carmilla teased wickedly, and the heat in Laura's cheeks were indication enough that she was bothered by it.

"I thought it be more badass," she confessed.

"You haven't met the fish." That had Laura frowning, and Carmilla shaking her head, with one eyebrow raised as she lifted the boxes and headed off towards her room.

What did that mean?

Frowning, Laura thought it best to discard that issue for now, and focus on the task at hand. She needed to get something to eat, head in the shower, and get out of there by eleven. Despite trying so hard to be taken seriously at work, her pieces on the supernatural goings on in the town were being laughed at around the water cooler and at the editor's desk. And each and every time she offered one up, she was given another menial task; cover the local kids soccer team results, talk about the graffiti on the library, write up a piece on who really did have the best Victoria sponge at the church bake sale.

So, today, on her day off, instead of wasting her time writing up good, interesting articles that no one ever got to see, Laura was going to start reporting on it for herself. With her trusty hand held camera, she'd get footage, and later, she'd record the story up to her webcam and edit it for the internet to view.

Someone out there had to be interested in what she had to say. Right?

Regardless, the stories needed to be told, and if no one else was going to, she definitely was.

Supernatural things were happening, and people needed to take notice. It wasn't safe out there.

So Laura's worries about Carmilla, her strange pet, and creepy brother needed to wait. She had a story to get to.

*0*0*

A.N.

The fish was inspired by fanart posted on tumblr, I'd really like to give credit where credit is due, so if anyone can find the link or name of the artist please let me know.


	3. Chapter 3

*0*0*

Polar Opposites

*0*0*

Laura's mission to find more information about the strange goings on around town didn't take off liked she'd hoped. She spent most of her day wandering around the old hospital grounds, having heard that one could see sightings of the old gamekeeper, who died at least twenty years ago, but the more she looked, the more it became clear he wasn't going to appear anytime soon.

So, with sore feet, an aching back, and a grumbling stomach, Laura made her way home, ready to curl up on the couch and dive into her shows.

Only, she'd forgotten about Carmilla.

This new roommate thing was taking some time to get used to.

Opening her front door, Laura let herself in and was immediately met with Carmilla slouched out across the couch, one hand lazily hanging off the couch, the other behind her head, as she watched the television. It was a little strange to see Carmilla like this, as she seemed so rigid and tense most of the time, not relaxed and laidback like now.

"Evening, Carmilla," Laura said, smiling softly, locking the door behind her. Carmilla hummed a greeting, not taking her eyes off the screen, and that was that.

Hanging up her coat, Laura felt her hunger getting the better of her, so headed straight for the fridge. She had leftovers that were now a godsend as she wouldn't have to cook, just a minute in the microwave and that was dinner.

She was certain that she had put the box on the middle shelf yesterday, but now, looking around the fridge, it was nowhere to be seen. She hadn't eaten it, of that she was certain, which meant…

"Did you eat my pasta?" Laura called out, turning to look at the back of the couch.

"The pasta?" Carmilla repeated, sounding almost sleepy.

"Yeah, I left a Tupperware dish right on this shelf." Pointing at the shelf served no purpose other than to reinforce Laura's point that it used to be right there.

"Oh, was that what it was? Yeah, I ate that. Sorry." Carmilla didn't sound sorry at all, but, Laura could forgive her this time. Her name hadn't exactly been on the lid or anything, so maybe Carmilla thought everything was to be shared.

Problem solved, Laura would create a list of rules to be followed for the food and make everything clear.

Sighing, Laura had to now start cooking, and ugh, this was not what she felt like doing. However, it wasn't a big deal, she kept telling herself. She was only this grumpy because of lack of food, and hell, she needed to remember that Carmilla was actually doing her a favour by living with her. So what if she had to rustle up another dinner? So what?

*0*0*

"She keeps eating my food!" Laura whined, sitting on the floor in the living room, a few days later.

Perry was curled up in the armchair, and LaFontaine was sprawled across the couch, both looking at Laura with sympathy. They had both come over to hear how the tale of the new roommate was going, having only received random snippets via texts since meeting Carmilla that first day.

"I've tried to explain how the food is meant to work, I even put up a list of house rules!" Laura bemoaned, pointing past their heads and into the kitchen where said list was stuck to the wall. "And it's not like I'm eating her food. I don't actually think she eats. All she has in the fridge is that soy milk carton."

"Maybe she's on a special diet, and maybe your food is a temptation she's not used to," Perry said, shrugging. "I'm sure she'll get used to how you want things. It might just take some more time."

"I never had this problem with my last roommate," Laura murmured, sighing, and then realised how weird it was to think of Danny as her last roommate, given how much more she actually was.

"Speaking of," LaFontaine began, "Danny asked how you were."

"She did?" Laura knew better than to sound so interested by that fact, but she missed her friend, not her ex-girlfriend.

"Yeah. I may have let slip about Carmilla, and she was just worried that you might living with some serial killer."

"Right, of course." And there was the reason why their friendship was still struggling to recover after their break-up. Danny cared, so much, which was great, but she still felt the need to almost baby Laura, like she couldn't take care of herself. Until those instincts of Danny's calmed, the two of them could be nothing more than exes who no longer speak.

Maybe in the future that would change, but not yet.

"I did explain that while Carmilla is not one's typical roommate, she didn't strike me as the serial killer type," Perry said, nodding as she did so.

"I don't really know what type of person she is yet, minus the food thief aspect," Laura replied, rolling her eyes.

"We could find out," LaFontaine suggested, and Laura waved her hand dismissively at the idea.

"No point. I already tried to google her, she barely exists on the internet." That had been a massive waste of time and Laura felt bad for even trying to google Carmilla in the first place.

"We could just look in her room," LaFontaine finished, looking at the two of them like they were lacking brain cells for missing the obvious.

"We cannot look in her room." Perry was the voice of reason, but LaFontaine's smile and raised eyebrows, as if they knew how curious Laura was to know more about her roommate, tipped the scales.

"As long as we don't move anything, I can't see the harm." LaFontaine grinned as they all began to get up, with Perry's admonishments of disappointment going unheard.

Really, Laura should have done this days ago, but if she'd snooped by herself it would have just been wrong. With Perry and LaFontaine, it was more about reassurance, than actually snooping. They were only making sure Carmilla wasn't making drugs or hiding dead bodies in her closet.

"I really don't think we should be in here," Perry stressed, looking on anxiously at the door to Carmilla's room. Laura and LaFontaine had only just stepped inside, when all three of them stopped to take in the most dominating piece of furniture inside. "While, morally, this is wrong, I do want to know how Carmilla got that in here," Perry said, pointing which okay that definitely needed a little bit more inspection.

Carmilla's bed was a large four-poster bed, with rich detailed drapes hanging around it. The whole thing was imposing, elegant and ostentatious, screaming of medieval Europe, which didn't fit in with Laura's image of Carmilla at all.

"I…I have no clue how she got that in here, let alone put it up," Laura mused, looking at the bed with a frown. It didn't even look like the bed came apart. The headboard wasn't just a headboard, it went from the floor straight up, with only a few inches separating it from touching the ceiling. It was carved intricately, and how?

"You didn't hear her? I mean, did _she _bring this in herself?" LaFontaine asked, also having stepped closer to inspect it further.

"Her brother helped her, but still I really don't know how they got this in here without waking me or at least damaging the paint work in my place." Later, she'd check the paint work just to be sure it hadn't been damaged. Though, surely she would have noticed big paint specs all over the place.

"She has a brother?"

"Will, he's…a little strange." Laura wasn't quite sure what it was about Will, but there was something off about him.

"Must be a family trait," LaFontaine murmured, moving past the bed to look at the rest of the place. "I wonder what's under that." Nodding at a thick blanket lying over something, LaFontaine turned to Laura to see if she had any idea.

"Oh, that could be her fish. She said she had a fish." And looking round, Laura saw no sign of said fish.

"Under a blanket? Isn't that a bit unusual."

"Maybe it's a special species, one that is sensitive to light," Perry chimed in, still standing in the doorway. She refused to cross the threshold, especially now there was something questionable under a blanket.

"Or, it's not a fish, and she lied to you," LaFontaine said, thinking that was the most likely scenario.

"Carmilla wouldn't lie about that," Laura replied, frowning, before, okay, no, she needed to rethink that. "Okay, she might, I don't know yet, but why lie about a pet of all things?"

"How comfortable would you feel knowing she had a snake or a spider in this thing?" LaFontaine tapped the side of the blanket, and a knocking sound was made. So it was definitely a tank of some kind.

"She doesn't, right? Because I need the money, but I want to be able to sleep soundly at night." Snakes and spiders were fine as long as they stayed a decent distance away from Laura. She didn't want to sleep near them, thank you very much.

Lifting the blanket off the tank, LaFontaine stared at it, puzzled. "Good news, it's not a snake, nor spiders."

"Bad news?" Of course there was bad news where Carmilla was concerned.

"I can't really see what is in here. It's a tank of water, so maybe she wasn't lying about the fish, but the water is completely black."

"What?" Moving for a closer look, Laura looked at the tank, her face a few inches from the tank, and like LaFontaine said, it was impossible to tell what was inside.

Tilting her head, Laura frowned, sure that there was something in the water. It might have been as black as the night, but no, wait, there was a small light shining in the water, like a little spec of dirt. It was actually rather pretty.

The sound of Carmilla's keys jingling in the lock of the front door was enough to break Laura's gaze with the light in the tank, and it had all three of them freezing, because oh crap, they were so going to get caught.

"She's coming, she's coming!" Perry cried, frantic, as if that hadn't been obvious. Thank god, Carmilla wasn't exactly quiet with her movements.

Throwing the blanket back of the tank with god knows what inside of it, which Laura would definitely inquire about later, because that light was so stunning, why keep it hidden?, Laura hightailed it after LaFontaine.

Rushing out of Carmilla's room, the three of them flew across the hall right into Laura's bedroom, diving onto the bed to appear nonchalant and as if they'd been there for hours. The adrenaline was coursing through all their systems as they pretended to be deep in conversation, while actually listening to Carmilla move through the flat.

She stopped briefly in the kitchen, before dumping something in the lounge, and then her footsteps got closer. Carmilla gave one look into Laura's bedroom, catching sight of them, before taking a look at her own bedroom, and Laura was certain Carmilla knew they'd been in there. Oh god, why did she have to be so curious and nosey? Why couldn't she have just left her roommate's room alone?

Waiting for the inevitable argument that was sure to follow, because Carmilla had every right to yell at them for invading her privacy, Laura bit her lip and avoided all eye contact. Perry and LaFontaine had given up on the pretence of having a conversation and now only silence was dragging on. It was like the eye before the storm.

Only, the storm vanished with a bang of Carmilla's door shutting behind her, and like that, nothing happened. Perry, LaFontaine and Laura all looked at each other in shock and surprise, as if not believe what just happened.

"Did we just…?" LaFontaine began, only to have Perry shush them.

"You two were so lucky. Let that be a lesson."

Lesson learnt. Laura was definitely not going to go snooping in Carmilla's room again anytime soon.

That didn't mean she wasn't going to google all types of fish that required dark water and no light, only to them produce light, because there was something seriously off about that fish. But that was a task for another day; now Laura needed to calm her racing heart and come down from the adrenaline high.

*0*0*


End file.
